[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 3, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22847-22848]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-2146]



[[Page 22847]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[A-485-803]


Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from Romania: Initiation 
and Preliminary Results of Changed Circumstances Antidumping Duty 
Administrative Review

AGENCY: Import Administration, International Trade Administration, 
Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY: In response to a letter from S.C. Ispat Sidex S.A. notifying 
the Department of Commerce (``the Department'') that its corporate name 
has changed to Mittal Steel Galati S.A., the Department is initiating a 
changed circumstances administrative review of the antidumping duty 
order on certain cut-to-length carbon steel plate from Romania (see 
Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel 
Plate from Romania, 58 FR 44167 (August 19, 1993) (``Order''). We have 
preliminarily concluded that Mittal Steel Galati S.A. is the successor-
in-interest to S.C. Ispat Sidex S.A. (``Sidex'') and, as a result, 
should be accorded the same treatment previously accorded to Sidex in 
regards to the antidumping order on cut-to-length carbon steel plate 
from Romania. Interested parties are invited to comment on these 
preliminary results.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 3, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Drury or Patrick Edwards, AD/CVD 
Operations, Office 7, Import Administration, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and 
Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482-0195 
and (202) 482-8029, respectively.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background:

    On August 19, 1993, the Department published in the Federal 
Register an antidumping duty order on certain cut-to-length carbon 
steel plate (``steel plate'') from Romania. See Order. Since 
publication, there have been eleven review periods, and three fully 
completed administrative reviews of this order. Sidex was a participant 
in all three reviews. In a letter dated March 14, 2005, Sidex advised 
the Department that on February 7, 2005, it changed its corporate name 
to Mittal Steel Galati, S.A. (``Mittal Steel'') and that Mittal Steel 
is the successor-in-interest to Sidex. As such, Sidex requested that 
the Department initiate a changed circumstances review to confirm that 
Mittal Steel is the successor-in-interest to Sidex for purposes of 
determining antidumping duty liabilities. Sidex also requested that the 
Department conduct a changed circumstances review on an expedited 
basis, pursuant to 19 CFR 351.221(c)(3)(ii) of the Department's 
regulations. Petitioners provided no comments.

Scope of the Order

    For purposes of the order, the products covered include hot-rolled 
carbon steel universal mill plates. For a complete description of the 
scope of the order, see Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from 
Romania: Notice of Final Results and Final Partial Rescission of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 70 FR 12651 (March 15, 2005).

Initiation of Changed Circumstances Review

    Pursuant to section 751(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended 
(``the Act''), and 19 CFR 351.216, the Department will conduct a 
changed circumstances review upon receipt of information concerning, or 
a request from an interested party for a review of, an antidumping duty 
finding or order which shows changed circumstances sufficient to 
warrant a review of the order. The information submitted by Mittal 
Steel claiming that it is the successor-in-interest to Sidex 
demonstrates changed circumstances sufficient to warrant a review. See 
19 CFR 351.216(d).
    In accordance with the above-referenced regulations, the Department 
is initiating a changed circumstances review to determine whether 
Mittal Steel is the successor-in-interest to Sidex. In determining 
whether one company is the successor to another for purposes of 
applying the antidumping duty law, the Department examines a number of 
factors including, but not limited to, changes in (1) management; (2) 
production facilities; (3) supplier relationships; and (4) customer 
base. See, e.g., Industrial Phosphoric Acid From Israel: Final Results 
of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 59 FR 6944 (February 
14, 1994). While no one or several of these factors will necessarily 
provide a dispositive indication of succession, the Department will 
generally consider one company to be a successor to another company if 
its resulting operation is similar to that of its predecessor. See 
Brass Sheet and Strip from Canada; Notice of Final Results of 
Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 57 FR 20460 (May 13, 1992), and 
the attached Decision Memorandum at Comment 1.\1\ Thus, if the evidence 
demonstrates that, with respect to the production and sale of the 
subject merchandise, the new company operates as the same business 
entity as the prior company, the Department will assign the new company 
the cash deposit rate of its predecessor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ ``[G]enerally, in the case of an asset acquisition, the 
Department will consider the acquiring company to be a successor to 
the company covered by the antidumping duty order, and thus subject 
to its duty deposit rate, if the resulting operation is essentially 
similar to that existing before the acquisition.'' 57 FR 20461.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On March 14, 2005, Mittal Steel submitted information demonstrating 
that it is the successor to Sidex. Specifically, Mittal Steel provided 
the minutes to its January 10, 2005, ``Extraordinary General Meeting of 
Shareholders'' at which the name change was approved. In addition, 
Mittal Steel provided a copy of the new company registration 
certificate filed with the Trade Register Office of the Galati Tribunal 
on February 7, 2005, the decision of Galati Tribunal to allow the name 
change (notarized by a delegated, tribunal judge) and the certificate 
issued by the National Office of the Trade Registry, Romanian Ministry 
of Justice, which established that Sidex would adopt the Mittal Steel 
name and logo. See Request for Change Circumstances Review, dated March 
14, 2005, at Exhibit 1.
    We also obtained information in the context of the 2002-2003 review 
demonstrating that no major changes occurred with respect to Mittal 
Steel's management, plant facilities, customer base, or suppliers. See 
Antidumping Duty Questionnaire Responses for Sections A, B and C, 
submitted in the on-going 2003-2004 Antidumping Duty Administrative 
Review of Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from Romania, (A-
485-803), dated November 5, 2005, and November 11, 2005, respectively. 
This information is currently on the record of this review and is on 
file in the Central Records Unit of the main Department of Commerce 
Building, Room B-099. We also noted that the headquarters remained the 
same and that Mittal Steel's suppliers and customers were consistent 
with the suppliers and customers it had in the previous review.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ See Certain Cut-to-Length Carbon Steel Plate from Romania: 
Notice of Final Results and Final Partial Rescission of Antidumping 
Duty Administrative Review, 70 FR 12651 (March 15, 2005). This 
information is currently on the record of this review and is on file 
in the Central Records Unit of the main Department of Commerce 
Building, Room B-099.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Mittal Steel provided excerpts from the 15th edition of Iron and 
Steel Works

[[Page 22848]]

of the World, published in 2004, which details Sidex's production 
facilities, and also included a print-out from the Mittal Steel website 
(dated February 23, 2005), indicating that the production facilities 
have not changed location, nor the equipment used for the production of 
merchandise following the name change from Sidex to Mittal Steel. 
Mittal Steel states in its request for initiation that it is still part 
of the same corporate group to which Sidex belonged. As such, the 
affiliated parties of Sidex are the affiliated parties of Mittal Steel, 
which continues the same relationship with affiliated suppliers that 
Sidex had used. Similarly, the relationships with unaffiliated 
suppliers have not been altered as a consequence of the name change. 
The company provided reports identifying Mittal Steel's suppliers of 
raw materials for the production of subject merchandise from September 
to December 2004 (i.e., before the name change), and from January to 
February 28, 2005, and we noted no changes or alterations. See id at 
Exhibit 9. Finally, Mittal Steel attached a copy of a February 15, 
2005, customer contract, where the company's name is amended in the 
contract, transferring legal rights and obligations of Sidex to Mittal 
Steel, and is signed by the customer. See id at Exhibit 10.
    When it concludes that expedited action is warranted, the 
Department may publish the notice of initiation and preliminary results 
for a changed circumstances review concurrently. See 19 CFR 
351.221(c)(3)(ii). See also Canned Pineapple Fruit from Thailand; 
Initiation and Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Changed 
Circumstances Review, 69 FR 30878 (June 1, 2004). Based on the 
information on the record, we have determined that expedition of this 
changed circumstances review is warranted. In this case, we 
preliminarily find that Mittal Steel is the successor-in-interest to 
Sidex and, as such, is entitled to Sidex's cash deposit rate with 
respect to entries of subject merchandise.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ See, e.g., Circular Welded Non-Alloy Steel Pipe From Korea; 
Final Results of Antidumping Duty Changed Circumstances Review, 63 
FR 20572 (April 27, 1998) where the Department found successorship 
where the company only changed its name and did not change its 
operations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Should our final results remain the same as these preliminary 
results, we will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (``CBP'') 
to assign Mittal Steel the antidumping duty cash deposit rate 
applicable to Sidex.

Public Comment

    Any interested party may request a hearing within 14 days of 
publication of this notice. See 19 CFR 351.310(c). Any hearing, if 
requested, will be held 28 days after the date of publication of this 
notice, or the first working day thereafter. Interested parties may 
submit case briefs and/or written comments not later than 14 days after 
the date of publication of this notice. Rebuttal briefs and rebuttals 
to written comments, which must be limited to issues raised in such 
briefs or comments, may be filed not later than 21 days after the date 
of publication of this notice. Parties who submit case briefs or 
rebuttal briefs in this proceeding are requested to submit with each 
argument (1) a statement of the issue and (2) a brief summary of the 
argument with an electronic version included. Consistent with section 
351.216(e) of the Department's regulations, we will issue the final 
results of this changed circumstances review no later than 270 days 
after the date on which this review was initiated, or within 45 days if 
all parties agree to our preliminary finding.
    We are issuing and publishing this finding and notice in accordance 
with sections 751(b)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and sections 351.216 
and 351.221(c)(3) of the Department's regulations.

    Dated: April 26, 2005.
Barbara E. Tillman,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration.
[FR Doc. E5-2146 Filed 5-2-05; 8:45 am]
(BILLING CODE: 3510-DS-S)